Penny didn't rush to ask who he was or where he lived.
From her experience with Linus, she knew how to interact with people who preferred to live away from society.
However—since he was still a child, Penny hoped, if possible, to bring him back to Pelican Town to receive a proper education, just like Vincent and Jas.
Every child has the right to an education.
This was almost one of Penny's core beliefs.
She gave Leo a gentle smile and asked softly, "Would you like to hear it? I can read it to you."
Leo cautiously edged closer to Penny's hand and glanced at the book she was holding.
"Is the story in there? How can you read it?" Leo asked.
Leo knew what a story was. The parrots, when they traveled, would always bring back interesting tales for him.
"This is writing," Penny explained. "It's a way of recording people's words on paper. That way, just by looking at the paper, you can know what happened between them."
Leo cupped his face in his hands, staring at the clean, white pages and the squiggling marks on them that looked like earthworms. "Writing..."
Penny then began to read from the book. Thanks to her experience teaching the two children, she knew how to make a story sound engaging and how to capture a child's interest.
Leo was quickly immersed in the thrilling story under Penny's narration. When he heard about Sailor encountering man-eating natives on the island, he couldn't help but wave his hands dismissively.
"We don't eat people. We natives don't eat people."
Penny laughed at his words. She reached out and ruffled Leo's hair, saying softly, "I know—on some islands, there are natives like that. By the way, do you live here all alone?"
"I live here with my parrot family!" Leo said.
"A parrot family?"
"Yep!" Leo nodded repeatedly, as if worried Penny wouldn't believe him. He tilted his head back, whistled, and then let out a series of bird calls. The next moment, a flock of parrots flew over.
"It's them! I live with them!"
"I see." Penny glanced at the parrots, then looked down at the proud-faced Leo and said, "Then you're not really a native."
"I'm not?"
"No, it would mean your parents and their parents, and so on, all lived here for generations," Penny explained, choosing her words carefully.
Since she wasn't sure about Leo's situation, she didn't dare say too much and could only pick words that were less likely to be ambiguous.
"I see." Leo nodded, not too bothered by it.
He did know that he and his parrot family weren't the same kind of being; after all, every parrot could fly, and he couldn't. These parrots, who had raised and helped him, had also made a point of telling him all this, but in his heart, he always felt he was one of them.
"So, do you want to keep listening?" Penny asked, raising the book in her hand.
"Yes!" Leo sat down beside the beach chair, looking at Penny with anticipation.
By the time Ron had roughly finished his work on the farm and made some food to bring over to Penny, this was the scene he saw.
Penny was leaning back in the beach chair, holding a book and reading softly. Beside her lay Leo, completely engrossed, and Sailor, who was equally captivated.
At a particularly exciting part, Sailor couldn't help but slap the sand enthusiastically: "Ratta! Ratta!"
"Quiet," Leo said, making a shushing gesture at it.
The peaceful scene made Ron hesitate for a moment before walking over to them.
"Are you hungry? I made some food," Ron said, walking closer with the meal.
The aroma of the food instantly made both Sailor and Leo lift their heads.
"Oh, thank you." Penny quickly placed a bookmark in her book, put it away properly, and then sat up.
He hadn't expected Leo to be here, but Ron had intentionally made extra, thinking Willy could eat with them when he woke up, so there was still enough.
Ron looked around, found a table, and waved Penny over.
Leo had rarely eaten cooked food, and now, smelling the lunch Ron had made, he couldn't help but swallow repeatedly.
"This is yours," Ron said, pointing to one of the portions.
"I get one too?" Leo sat up straight from the ground. "You're really a good person!"
This made Penny laugh along. She watched Leo, who was gobbling his food down at the table, and felt a flicker of concern.
"You want to take him back to Pelican Town?" Ron asked quietly.
"Mmm—if it's possible," Penny replied. "He must have ended up here after some kind of accident. If he doesn't have a place to stay, he can live at my house. Robin built a spare room for us before, and it's just sitting empty now."
As he passed the utensils to Penny, Ron considered the question.
"How about we wait until spring?" Ron asked.
"Hmm?"
"He might not be able to adapt if he goes over now. It's cold over there," Ron said, looking at Leo, who was burying his head in his food, and the little Rattata beside him, who was also eating with great effort. "We can talk about it again once it gets warmer in Pelican Town."
"Mmm—" Penny thought for a moment and then slowly nodded.
She rested her chin in her hand, eating her meal while pondering Leo's situation.
"Would you want to go to Pelican Town?" Penny asked softly.
"Pelican Town?" Leo asked, his cheeks puffed out as he looked up. Realizing food was about to fall out of his mouth, he started to chew, chew, chew with all his might, then swallowed hard. "You mean the place that glows at night?"
"A place that glows?"
Hearing this, Leo pointed in the direction of Pelican Town.
"Oh, over there. Yes, that's the place that glows at night," Penny said.
Leo gazed in that direction for a while and then said, "But my parrot family is here!"
Penny didn't press the issue. She knew it would be impossible to change Leo's mind so quickly, and besides, they had only known each other for a morning, sharing a story.
This was just like education—a long and arduous journey.
"Alright," Penny replied.
"If I don't go there, does that mean I can't hear these stories anymore?" Leo asked again.
Penny paused, then reached out and ruffled Leo's hair. "Then I'll come here to see you. Maybe every weekend?"
Leo cheered at her words, but before he could even put his hands down, he asked again, "What's a weekend?"
"It's today, and then after every six days, I'll come to see you."
Leo counted on his fingers and then cheered again.
"I love weekends!"
"I know. Now, get back to eating," Penny said, looking at Leo softly.
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